Summer Game Fest 2023 is set to wrap today. The annual show kicked off last Thursday and brought five days of exciting game reveals and updates, but this being a Halloween and horror news site, here are just the horror highlights you might have missed.*
Alan Wake 2 Gets New Gameplay Footage
During last month’s PlayStation Showcase, we got a release date and gameplay trailer for “Alan Wake 2.” But during Summer Game Fest, Remedy Entertainment gave us over three minutes of gameplay footage with the psychological survival horror sequel’s co-leading protagonist and second playable character: Saga Anderson.
The new footage finds the agent at an abandoned general store in the Pacific Northwest as part of her investigation into a series of ritualistic murders. “Alan Wake 2” will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via the Epic Games Store. on October 17, 2023
“John Carpenter’s Toxic Comando” Revealed
If you’re a John Carpenter fan, you know he’s a big gamer. But the iconic director of movies like “Halloween” and “Escape From New York” isn’t just playing them these days, now he’s helping make them. During Summer Game Fest, Saber Interactive, Focus Entertainment, and John Carpenter revealed “John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando,” a new co-op first-person shooter inspired by 80s horror and action, two things Carpenter made a name for himself with.
The game takes place in the near future when an experimental attempt to harness the power of the Earth’s core ends in a terrifying disaster: the release of “the Sludge God,” an eldritch abomination that turns soil into scum and the living into undead monsters.
Now it’s your job as one of the Toxic Commandos to try and clean up the mess. Take control of one of the commandos, team up with your friends, and send the Sludge God and its horde back to the underworld. Choose the class that matches your playstyle, pile into your favorite ride, and unload an array of gunfire, grenades, special abilities, and katanas in an effort to save the planet.
“John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando” is coming in 2024 to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via the Epic Games Store.
A New Action RPG from the Creators of “Vampyr” Got a Gameplay Reveal
Dontnod, the studio behind “Vampyr” and the first two “Life is Strange” games, showed off its new action RPG, “Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.”
The game follows the characters Antea Duarte and Red mac Raith. The two are lovers, and Banishers, a type of ghost hunter who vows to protect the living from the threat of lingering ghosts and specters. Following a disastrous last mission, Antea is fatally wounded, becoming one of the spirits she loathes. In the haunted wilds of North America, the couple desperately searches for a way to liberate Antea from her new plight. Play as both Antea and Red and battle supernatural forces with magic, weapons, and spiritual powers.
“Witchfire” Gets An Early Access Release Date
“Witchfire,” the dark fantasy first-person shooter announced in 2017, finally got a release date during this year’s Summer Game Fest. Polish indie developer, The Astronauts, announced the game would be arriving on Early Access on September 20 on the Epic Games Store.
Desperate for a chance to triumph in the deadly war against witches, the Church calls on forbidden pagan magic to turn willing sinners into immortal witch hunters called prayers. Armed with strange weapons and forbidden magic, players hunt the powerful witch of the Black Sea, who holds the key to their salvation.
In addition to an Early Access release date, the developers also unveiled a new trailer:
“South of Midnight” Revealed from the Developers of “We Happy Few”
During Summer Game Fest, as part of the Xbox Games Showcase, “We Happy Few” developer Compulsion Games unveiled its new project: “South of Midnight.” The new third-person action-adventure game is set in a magic realist version of the American South and is coming to Xbox Series X|S on Game Pass, as well as PC via Steam.
The game follows Hazel, the heroine revealed in the trailer, who’s on a mission to subdue supernatural creatures – all based on real-life folklore from the region the game takes its inspiration from. You can check out the trailer below, but if this one looks like it’s of interest to you, you’ll want to check out this exclusive interview posted about the game on the Xbox Wire.
Psychological Horror “Luto” Gets New Trailer and Demo
During Summer Game Fest, as part of the Future Games Show, Broken Bird Games gave us a look at its psychological horror game “Luto.” The game is a first-person narrative experience where you play as someone unable to leave their house. Searching for an escape will lead you down a series of paths that will test your senses.
The game deals with some dark themes, including the pain of losing a loved one, the horror of insecurity, and the darkness that lurks behind anxiety and depression. If that weren’t enough, it also leans heavily into environmental and sensory horror built around several phobias.
“Luto” is coming soon to PC and consoles, and you can download a demo of the game now from Steam.
“Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2” Gets New Trailer and 2024 Release Window
During the Xbox Games Showcase, during Summer Game Fest, Ninja Theory treated fans to an all-new trailer for the upcoming sequel, but more importantly, announced that “Hellblade 2” will arrive in 2024 on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
First announced in 2019, the game is the sequel to 2017’s “Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.” The sequel is an intimate journey of overcoming the darkness both within and without and tells the next chapter of Senua’s story with cinematic immersion, beautifully realised visuals, and encapsulating sound.
“Fallout 76” Getting New Expansion: Atlantic City
During the Xbox Games Showcase, Bethesda Softworks and Bethesda Game Studios celebrated the 15 million players who have made the Wasteland their home in “Fallout 76” and treated them to a trailer for the upcoming expansion, which will take players to an all-new location outside of Appalachia – Atlantic City!
Teaser Trailer Arrives for “Still Wakes The Deep”
The Chinese Room, the creators of the critically-acclaimed “Dear Esther,” “Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture,” and “Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs,” debuted a teaser trailer for its return to first-person narrative horror with “Still Wakes The Deep.”
In it, players take on the role of an oil rig worker who must fight for his life through a visceral storm, claustrophobic surroundings, and thick, dark, and perilous North Sea waters. All lines of communication have been severed. All exits are gone. All that remains is to face the unknowable horror that’s come aboard. Search for your crew and help them survive if you can. Run, climb, and swim through the flooding corridors and storm-lashed outer decks. Face a terrifying, unrelenting foe. And pray that, one day, you get to see your family again.
*This article will be updated if new titles or announcements are unveiled on Monday as part of the Ubisoft Forward or Capcom Showcase
